Woman's Club's Last Project Still Giving

July 26, 1999|By SANDRA TAN Daily Press

When Jean W. Lewis moved to Fox Hill in 1952, she joined an influential group that played one of the greatest roles in the development of the neighborhood as a modern community. Lewis joined the Woman's Club.

She'd heard all the stories - about how the club first started as part of a Red Cross effort during World War I, and how the women continued to meet after the war ended, taking on major civic projects.

The club is credited with helping to bring streetlights, paved sidewalks, door-to-door mail service, city water and public transportation to the community. It also named the neighborhood streets and worked to abolish "no fence" laws that enabled cattle to roam residential property.

When Lewis joined the club, the organization's major project was the upkeep and improvement of Clark Cemetery.

"Even in my time, we were very civic minded," she said.

Lewis recalled working on beautification projects and decorating the dance hall at Grandview in celebration of the club's 50th anniversary in 1970 with flowers she had grown in her back yard.

But the life of the organization aged along with its members. In 1983, Lewis helped the then- treasurer of the club to draft a sad letter asking for financial help to pave the Clark Cemetery road.

Part of the letter read, "At the present time, the Woman's Club has dwindled to a very few active members. The youth in the community, or the present generation, show no interest in keeping the club going."

Shortly thereafter, the club sold its clubhouse. The organization disbanded in 1986. The proceeds from the clubhouse sale and other fund-raising efforts helped create a perpetual care endowment for Clark Cemetery.

Lewis, 71, counted on her fingers all the remaining members of the once-vibrant Woman's Club. Seven are left, she said, and most still live in Fox Hill.